As promised, ArenaNet has fully unveiled Guild Wars 2’s next expansion as of this afternoon – and longtime players are very likely to be pleased with what the studio is offering. It’s called Visions of Eternity, and it’s launching on October 28th. Let’s take a look!Play Guild Wars 2

First, we’re getting a fresh storyline set in the island maps that make up Castora; two of those maps launch on day one, with the rest coming next year. Castora is a “heretofore unvisited part of Tyria and home to ancient magics that have warped the local flora and fauna in stunning ways.”

“Visions of Eternity’s new story begins with rumors of an island fabled by the seafarers of Tyria, rich with magic and ley energy. Word arrives to the Tyrian Alliance that the Inquest, a conniving krewe of asuran technology researchers, has been in search of that island, Castora—and when the Inquest start sneaking around, it spells danger for the rest of Tyria. Together with those allies willing to brave a voyage into the unknown, the Commander sets off in the hopes of discovering what the Inquest’s goals are—and stopping them before it’s too late.”

Among the three new masteries attached to Castora is a new line specifically expanding the oft-neglected skimmer mount.

Housing fans will finally be able to move to the beach as the homestead system expands with a new plot Castora’s “sunny beaches.” In fact, the team is adding a new “layout” feature that allows players to save and share their plots with others.

While we know we’re getting nine new elite specs, the press release doesn’t actually list what they are. We’re assuming that when the preview site goes live, it’ll have more. And there are a few teases in the press pics, like what sure looks like a Mesmer with a lute shown above. We do know there’s going to be a beta for all of them the week of August 20th, but no doubt ArenaNet will be unveiling them in more detail in the run up to that. In the meantime, the playerbase has been guessing which teaser goes with which class, and Redditors have finally identified John Guildwars himself in what is easily our favorite MMO meme of the year.

Like the last two expansions, Visions of Eternity will continue deep into summer 2026 over the course of three additional updates, which will include two more maps, the new convergence, new raid encounters, new story, and so forth, all part of what ArenaNet’s Josh Davis calls the studio’s “commitment to major yearly content expansions.” The preorder page does confirm that the other three updates will indeed all come next year (don’t expect the second one in 2025).

Preorders are already live for all three versions of the expansion; you’re looking at $25 for the base edition (which comes with cosmetics and a level 80 booster), $50 for the deluxe edition (more skins, gathering tools, and the character slot for that booster), or $75 for all that and 4000 gems, which as we usually point out is actually a sweet deal if you know you’ll buy gems anyway.

Did you call it? Mesmer (Troubadour) , Elementalist (Evoker), and Thief (Antiquary) elite specs were revealed in the announcement trailer for Guild Wars 2 – Visions of Eternity! Starting next week, dive into 3 new specs weekly with news on Wednesdays and livestreams Fridays at noon PT. #GW2 #VoE

— Guild Wars 2 (@guildwars2.com) 2025-07-16T20:38:07.714Z